Improved method of loading and unloading vessels



@uiten gisten genot @frs GILBERT AUGUST E FOURNIER .DES CORATS, 0FPARIS, FRNCE.

Letters' Patent No. 67,031, dated July 23, 1867. I l

IMPROVED METHOD 0F LOADING AND UNLOADING VESSBLS.

TO ALL WHOM I'l MAY. CNCERN: y

" `Be it known that I, GILBERT Avatars FOURNIER Das Comms, Gentleman, ofParis, France, have invented a newMode of Conveyance on Sea or River,avoiding Transhipment, Lading and Unlading by M'anual Labor; and I dohereby declare that .the following is a full, clear, and exact.description of the same, reference being had'to the annexed sheet ofdrawing, making a part of the same'. y

My invention refers toa new arrangement of stcamboats and vessels,avoiding all transhipment, lading and unladiug by manual labor on boardthe same. 4

I separate the interior of a vessel or steamboat in severalcompartments, say three, the bue at the how I and another astern forcontaining boxes or carriages mounted on small wheels, and in whichboxes goods have been previously shipped. In the third compartment,between, are the steam engines for the' propulsion of the vessel, andothers intended for the lading and unlading of said boxes or carriages.Regular platforms like railway platforms, provided with rails, willreceive the said carriages on their being conveyed out of the 'Isteamboat or other vessel. The lading andunlading of said carriages iseffected in the same way as done in a railway terminus. As regards theintroduction on board a ship or steamboat of auch carriages,4 a steamengine is provided inside the vessel whereby this operation is effectedby means of any suitable lifting-apparatus situated likewise inside thevessel.

supposing a steamer, for instance, in the two'compartments of which itis desired to lodge wheeled boxes or carriages for the above pur-pose, 1place vertically, and at proper distance from one another, screwssupporting nuts upon which rails are securedand on which rails thecarriages are placed. Longitudinal shafts provided with endless screwsset the vertical screws in motion, and the nuts' screw forth or back,according -as said carriages are to be got in or out.

New it will be readily understood that the deck being provided withrails corresponding to those of a springing-board, themselvescorresponding to those in the terminus, and the rails and the nuts beingcome on a level with those on the deck, it will be easy to have' eitherthe lading or unlading eiected,

The working is proceeded with in the following manner: The steam enginefor'this purpose sets in motion a cylinder placed ostern, on whichacable or chain is either wound or unwound, according to the work it isdesired to accomplish, and the boxes or carriages being suspendedthereto, will in this manner get in or out of the vessel. The steamboator other vessel is to be introduced, for lading or unlading purpose,into a sort of recess dug out of the wharf, the depth of the watertherein being the same of course as that-in the haven. Thespringing-board is hinged upto the end of said recess so` as to assumealways the level of the vessel, to the bow or fore-part of which it islikewise secured in such manner that the railways on the platform of theboard and of the vessel will correspond with cach other. When thisoperation is over then islto commence the working of theliftingiapparatus, whereby the boxes or carriages are raised to theheight of the rails both on the springing-board and deck. When arrivedat this height they are hooked on to the cable which is woundon thecylinder placed astern, and a motion is imparted thereto by the v'steamengine, above mentioned, and .by means of a return pulley placed in theterminus,- the boxes or carriages are `quickly and at once gotin. Forunlading Iproceed inversely.: the cable is attached ahead one or morerows of carriages, and is directlyQwo-und up on the cylinder or drumostern, by which way of proceeding the lading is so speedily effectedthat the stability of the vessel is but for a few moments disturbed. Itis evident that the supply of coal for the engines, 'and other conveniences, are conveyed in the samemanner by means of special carriages.

The advantages of this system may be summed up as follows: Notablesaving of time; suppression of expenses for transhipment;' preservationof the goods; possibility, in case of fire, of quickly throwing theburning carriages or boxes into the sea, making up readily or repairingthe leakages. y

In the annexed drawing, illustrative of this new mode of conveyance-Figure 1 shows a longitudinal view of a steamboat arranged according tomy invntion, so as to admit 1 wheeled boxes Lis-carriages. In thisligure the boat is seen partly in elevation and partly in section.

Figure 2 is the plan of the'same. Figure 8 is a transverse section ofthe boat, and in these three figures the same letters of reference standfor the like parts when they recur.

a, bont or vessel; b, screw; c, rudder;d, nuts vsupporting the' rails f,upon vvvhichthe boxes or carriages v are -placed y, gear-wheels keyed onthe screws d to these wheels i s imparted a rotary motionv by thnendlelsscrews i; j, turn-plates placed on the deelt of a vessel so as tofacilitate the working thereof; lc, boards setting in communication 'theplatform and the boat; l, 'rails placed on the deck and corresponding tothose on the board and platform m, traction-chain or cable for conveyingthe carriages' from the platform to the deelt, or

' viceversa; n, return pulleys; o, other pulleys leading the cablestowards the machine intended to e'eet the traction.

Fig 3 shows the lading and unladingr operated along one side of thevessel..

Figs. 1 and- 2 show the same operation performed at the bow both thesearrangements being indicated in order to show thatA the lading andunlading may takeplaeehothI trays indiscriminately, as the carriages areeasily worked upon on the decl: by means of the turn-plates. f

Having so far described my invention, what 'I claim isv 1. The verticalscrews d in the vessela, haring gear-wheels h, provided vwith -nuts e,operated by means of the endless 'screws and longitudinal rods arrangedin such a manner that' two or more-tiers f cars maybe spported in saidvessel and raised or lowered, substantially as described forl thepurpose lpcied.

2. The combination of -tlie turn-tables j, rails l, traction-chains andpulleys h o, springboards k, arranged in relation to the vessel q, andoperated as herein describedfforthe purpose specified.

v A.- FOURNIER DES cona'rs. Witnesses: l

A. GUIox,

Dsxos.

